MELISSA

Molten Hue formed in Sydney in 1968. The original lineup was vocalist/flautist Robert Gunn (ex Rick and The Bad Boys), guitarist Rick Barrett, bassist Ken Frazer and drummer Warren "Wal" Sparke. The band played at Police Boy’s Club dances at Hornsby and Randwick-Daceyville, high school and CYO dances as well as popular city venues like Chequers, Uptight, Suzy Wong’s, Jonathan’s, Joseph’s Coat, Whisky-A-Go-Go, the Arts Factory and Here. In 1970 the band’s name was changed from Molten Hue to Melissa.

In late 1970 Ken Frazer was replaced by Irishman Joe Creighton. He brought a bit of Irish influence to the band having been influenced himself by Van Morrison and the whole Belfast sound. The band generally had a prog rock influence especially Jethro Tull.  Melissa's debut 45 "Mississippi Mamma" produced by Rory Thomas from The Questions was a pacy progressive blues-rock number, backed by a raucous cover of Dylan's "Too Much of Nothing". 

The group's only album, 'Midnight Trampoline' was recorded over a period of nine months during 1971 and was eventually released in October on the independent Banner label. Several tracks were composed by Creighton and/or Barnett, and there's an interesting arrangement of the traditional song "Cuckoo". As Ian McFarlane noted in Freedom Train, the group was obviously heavily under the spell of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, and the LP features two Morrison covers, "Madame George" and "Young Lovers Do".

Unfortunately, the album sank without a trace on release, but over the years it has gained a reputation as one of the better Australian rock albums of the period and it became a sought-after collector's item. Melissa had a strong following on the Sydney suburban dance circuit, and they performed with major acts like Tully and Mecca at underground happenings and concerts at venues like the Paddington Town Hall and the Arts Factory in Darlinghurst. One of the highlights of the group's brief career was a support slot in Sydney on the Sydney leg of the first Australian tour by Elton John in October 1971.

By this time, however, internal tensions that built up during the recording of the LP had brought about to a split the band, with Creighton and Gunn being replaced by Chris Keystone and Ken Hanley, plus a new keyboard player, Glen Farley. Melissa continued to perform through 1972 but broke up at the end of that year. Fortunately, the Melissa recordings were among the precious early-'70s OzRock relics selected for reissue by Vicious Sloth Collectibles. The tracks from the 'Midnight Trampoline' LP, augmented by the two tracks from the single, were included on the CD reissue. The most notable member of the group is of course Joe Creighton, who has long been one of Australia's most respected and sought-after bassist-vocalists.

Members

Robert Gunn (flute, vocals), Rick Barrett (guitar), Ken Frazer (bass), Warren Sparke (drums),
Joe Creighton (bass) Glen Farley (keyboards) Chris Keystone (vocals) Ken Farley (bass)

References

http://www.milesago.com/artists/melissa.htm